A Dream Unfolding (54 page)

As Will and his men neared the town, his anticipation grew.
 
He looked forward to this day for weeks.
 
He was determined to spend as much time as possible with Hannah today.
 
He realized that if he wanted a chance to get to know her, he needed to act quickly.
 
Though he hated thinking of winning her affection as a competition, it was.
 
There were so few unattached women in the area for the large number of single men.
 
Competition, especially for someone as comely as Hannah, would be tough.
 
Hopefully his charm and quick action would give him a fighting chance.
 
Hopefully.

“Wow!” exclaimed Hawk, pulling his horse to a stop.

“They have a stage and everything!” Jed echoed.

“Come on,” Covington said, tying his horse to a hitching post.
 
“Let’s go see everything!”

As the three youngest men of his crew took off running around the square full of people, Will slid a bouquet of flowers from his saddle bags.

Ben, having noticed the flowers, teased Will, “Got
yerself
a special gal, huh?
 
I knew I shouldn’t have let you make those deliveries alone.”

Heat rose to Will’s face.
 
He walked away quickly, hoping the rest of his men missed the jibe.

Scanning the crowd, he tried to find Hannah.
 
An unexpected case of nerves assaulted him.
 
What if he was wrong about the connection between them?

Taking a deep breath, he moved forward, rehearsing his speech for later.
 
At some point, he would ask her to take a walk with him.
 
Then he would ask her to visit the ranch in a few weeks.
 
He hoped she would say yes.
 
He really wanted her to see his beautiful property and it would be a perfect opportunity to get to know her away from the prying eyes of the competition.

Ben followed close behind him as he made his way across the lawn towards the back kitchen door of the boardinghouse.

“Will!” Betty hurried to greet him.

Eyeing the flowers in his hand she started to make some comment when Ben spoke.
 
“You been holding out on me, Will.
 
And who is this lovely lady?”

Pink colored Betty’s cheeks.
 
Will quickly introduced the two, wondering how he managed to never have done so before now.

As two of her boarders struggled to get a table out the door, Betty’s attention shifted.
 
“You be careful with those pies!”

Ben muttered to Will, “Please tell me, she
ain’t
your special gal.”

Shaking his head, Will chuckled.

“Good.
 
Thought she was a mite old for
ya
.
 
But not for me.”

---

As Hannah slipped on her new dress, she heard Paul directing several men to carry the dining hall tables and benches outside.
 
Betty’s muffled voice from the other side of the wall reassured her that the pies would be safe.
 
Taking extra care with her hair, she wove a matching brown ribbon into the chignon fastened at the base of her neck.
 
Then she placed her bonnet on her head, tying a loose bow under her chin.

Stepping out the back door from the kitchen, Hannah saw many area ranchers were beginning to arrive.
 
Some of the ranchers that lived down the mountains in the
Peeples
Valley area, arrived last night, setting up campsites on the edge of town.
 
Searching the growing crowd for one particular rancher, she was disappointed not to see him yet.
 
However, she spotted Martha Murphy waving to get her attention as the military personnel arrived from the fort.

“You look lovely.
 
Is that a new dress?” Martha asked, greeting Hannah with a hug.

“Oh, look, there’s Joshua,” Hannah said as she pointed to Lieutenant Harrison and his company of cavalry.
 
They were starting the parade along Cortez Street.
 
Hannah almost missed the inquisitive look that passed between Betty and Martha, as she led them to a better vantage point.
 
The uniformed men always looked so dashing in parade formation.

Enamored by the parade, Hannah failed to see Will
Colter
as he approached with some of his men.
 
“Hello, Han…Mrs. Anderson,” Will said gently touching her elbow to get her attention.

She turned her attention to the tall rancher just as he thrust his hand forward.
 
“For you,” he said as she studied the small bouquet of bright yellow wildflowers.
 
Letting her gaze float back up to his face, she warmed under his bright smile.

“
Th
...Thank you, Mr.
Colter
.
 
That was very thoughtful,” she replied accepting the gift, her grin equally as bright.
 
How sweet.

Betty must have seen Will approach with the bouquet, for she held out a container with some water.
 
Hannah placed the lovely blooms on the pie table close by.

The noise of the parade cut off any further conversation.
 
Will motioned Hannah to stand next to him to watch.
 
Taking her hand, he led her near the front to the best vantage point.
 
The parade rounded the corner from Cortez onto Gurley Street, then down to Montezuma, effectively circling the crowd in the town square.
 
Moving to the designated area, the army performed several drills for the spectators.
 
When they finished, loud applause was their reward.

Mr. Barnard came forward to announce the food was ready, so the crowd began forming a line.
 
Will offered his arm to Hannah which she accepted.
 
Betty and Ben followed behind, as did Charles and Martha.

“Thank you again for the flowers,” Hannah said.
 
“They are lovely.”

“Not as lovely as you,” he replied with a tender expression.

Hannah blushed at the compliment.
 
First flowers, now compliments?
 
What has gotten into Mr.
Colter
?
 
Seeking to shift the attention from her, she asked, “Is everyone from the ranch here with you?”

“Everyone except Pedro and Miguel.
 
They volunteered to keep an eye on things.”
 
They took a few steps forward in the line.
 
Then, he turned and looked down into her eyes.
 
“How have you been, Hannah?”

The direct question gave her a moment’s pause, as did the fluttering of her stomach at his gaze.
 
She looked away, suddenly self-conscious.
 
“I’ve been well.
 
The boardinghouse has been very busy.
 
Betty, Martha, and I baked pie after pie yesterday.”
 
Glancing up at Will out of the corner of her eye, she teased, “I will certainly miss your help with dishes this evening.”

Will chuckled.
 
He had such a deep laugh and it lit up his whole face.
 
“Who knows, you may get some extra help after all.”

---

When they arrived at the buffet, each of them took a sampling of food.
 
Will looked around for a place to sit.
 
All of the tables from the boardinghouse were full.
 
While any one of the men sitting there would likely give up their seat for a lady, he doubted if they would let him join her.
 
Wanting to keep her at his side, he searched for another place.
 
Seeing a shady spot on the grass he motioned her forward.
 
“Will this be okay, or should I see if I can get a blanket for you?”

“This is perfect,” Hannah answered, handing him her plate.
 
She sat down on the ground and spread her skirt out.

Will handed down both plates as he took his place next to her.
 
After taking his plate back, he paused.
 
“Would you like me to say grace?”
 
At her smile and nod, he said a quick prayer, not entirely aware of his own words as her nearness distracted him.

When he looked up from the prayer, his heart started beating faster.
 
That shade of brown she wore made her eyes appear even deeper blue.
 
The life reflected there drew him in.

“I didn’t realize there were so many people in the area,” Hannah said, stirring his thoughts from her appearance.

Looking around the crowd, Will agreed.
 
He figured there were roughly three hundred men there.
 
And there were about ten women—the most important one sitting next to him.
 

He turned his attention back towards Hannah as he swallowed a bite of the venison.
 
The dress she wore hugged her curves in a pleasing way, before narrowing at her waist.
 
Will thought he could easily span that waist with his hands.
 
Heat rose to his face with the thought.
 
He quickly stuffed a biscuit in his mouth to shift his focus.

He was still contemplating his next move when an unexpected visitor arrived.

Will glared up at the officer whose shadow fell across his plate.
 
What was he doing here?
 
Before Will could think of some pleasant way to get the man to leave, Hannah looked up.

Her smile lit up, as Will’s heart sank.

“Joshua, please join us,” Hannah said to the lieutenant.
 
“Have you met Mr.
Colter
?”

As Hannah made the introductions the two men sized each other up.
 
Will was disappointed to still be associated on a more formal basis while the young lieutenant was on a first name basis.
 
He wasn’t sure why, but it stuck in his craw.
 
As they shook hands, Will gripped the man’s hand firmly.
 
He found himself feeling possessive and not the least bit happy with sharing Hannah’s time.
 
Harrison’s shake was curt, adding to his air of military precision.
 
Will could only wonder at what was going through his mind.
 
Hannah appeared oblivious to the subtle tension between the two men.

Taking a seat on the other side of Hannah, Harrison launched into a conversation with her immediately.
 
“Are you enjoying the celebration?”

“I loved the parade.
 
Seeing the military drills really adds to the patriotism of the day,” she answered, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

After Harrison directed another question to Hannah, seemingly ignoring Will, Will felt like an outsider—and this was supposed to be his time with Hannah.
 
As his jealousy started to rise, he stood, excusing himself with the pretense of wanting to watch the miner’s rock picking competition.
 
He walked over close enough to see, but not really seeing.
 
Crossing his arms over his chest he knew he could not just leave her there alone with the lieutenant.
 
Their obvious connection already put him at a disadvantage.
 
If he had any hope of winning Hannah, he should march right back over there and steal her away.
 
But, something held him back.

His mood must have been transparent to Betty as she approached, for she said, “She doesn’t love him, you know.”

“Beg your pardon?” Will asked, caught off guard by her candor.

“Don’t worry.
 
She doesn’t love Lieutenant Harrison,” she confirmed before turning her attention back to the miners.

Will hoped that was true, but he had his doubts.
 
He looked over at the two as they were deep in conversation.
 
They had such a comfortable familiarity between them.
 
She seemed genuinely delighted by the lieutenant’s presence.
 
Did she look like a woman in love?
 
Did he even know what that looked like?

He thought of his parents who loved each other dearly.
 
It was evident in every interaction.
 
His father gave her hand a gentle squeeze as they gathered for supper each evening.
 
His eyes would take on a different, softer look when he spoke to Will’s mother and she reflected that same look.
 
How does a man know when a woman is in love?

---

As she watched Will walk away, Hannah felt disappointed.
 
He seemed to be warming up to her, but then his abrupt departure threw her off balance.

Nonetheless, she was here with Joshua, so she focused her attention on him.
  
“What did you do before the war?”

“Back in ’49, my family moved to California during the gold rush.
 
I was twelve at the time.
 
My father was always a shrewd man and, when he made his fortune, he invested it wisely in a freight company.
 
In a few short years, he built the business into a successful enterprise.
 
When I finished school at sixteen, I spent the first two years working different jobs at the freight company.
 
Then, father sent me east to Georgia to attend university with my cousin.”